JK Rowling tweet tweaks Amazon in contract dispute

The Associated Press

Posted:
06/04/2014 04:30:43 PM CDT

Updated:
06/04/2014 05:09:06 PM CDT

Click photo to enlarge

FILE - This Oct. 16, 2012 file photo shows author J.K. Rowling at an appearance to promote her latest book "The Casual Vacancy," at The David H. Koch Theater in New York. Rowling has added a subtle comment under her pen name Robert Galbraith about the standoff between her publisher and Amazon.com. Amazon is in a contract dispute with Rowling?s U.S. publisher, Hachette Book Group, and is not accepting pre-orders for ?The Silkworm? and other Hachette releases. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — J.K. Rowling added a subtle comment under her pen name Robert Galbraith on Wednesday about the standoff between her publisher and Amazon.com.

The "Harry Potter" author noted in a tweet from @rgalbraith that there are "lots of ways to order" her novel "The Silkworm" in the U.S., as "Amazon kindly suggest(s)." Rowling spokeswoman Rebecca Salt confirmed that the twitter account was authentic.

Amazon is in a contract dispute with Rowling's U.S. publisher, Hachette Book Group, and isn't accepting pre-orders for "The Silkworm" and other Hachette releases. "The Silkworm," Rowling's second Galbraith detective novel, is out June 19.

Hachette authors James Patterson and Sherman Alexie and non-Hachette author John Green are among those who have strongly criticized the Seattle-based online retailer. Amazon has suggested negotiations will be prolonged and customers in the meantime can buy Hachette books from its competitors. As of late Monday afternoon, "The Silkworm" was No. 10 on Barnes & Noble.com.